U.S. patent number 4,632,888 [Application Number 06/770,944] was granted by the patent office on 1986-12-30 for battery carrying handle.
This patent grant is currently assigned to GNB Incorporated. Invention is credited to Joseph J. Jergl, William H. Kump.
United States Patent |
4,632,888 |
Kump , et al. |
December 30, 1986 |
**Please see images for:
( Certificate of Correction ) ** |
Battery carrying handle
Abstract
An assembly for a recessible carrying handle is provided for a
battery having a container and cover. The assembly comprises: an
elongated recess in the top surface of the cover; an elongated
recess in opposing side wall surfaces of the cover, which cover
side recesses communicate with the ends of the cover top recess; an
elongated recess in opposing side wall surfaces of the container,
which container side recesses communicate with the cover side
recesses; a pair of tongues projecting from the side walls of and
into each container side recess; a generally U-shaped handle having
two limbs connected by a cross piece; a pair of grooves in the
sides of each handle limb, which grooves are adapted to slidably
receive the tongues; and a pair of slots in the grooves, which
slots are adapted to allow passage of the tongues in and out of the
grooves; whereby the handle may be attached readily and without
significant distortion to an otherwise completely assembled battery
and upon attachment is slidably received in the recesses.
Inventors: |
Kump; William H. (Mendota
Heights, MN), Jergl; Joseph J. (Minneapolis, MN) |
Assignee: |
GNB Incorporated (Mendota
Heights, MN)
|
Family
ID: |
25090185 |
Appl.
No.: |
06/770,944 |
Filed: |
August 30, 1985 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
429/187;
16/DIG.15; 224/902; 220/761; 294/903 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H01M
50/256 (20210101); Y10S 294/903 (20130101); Y10S
16/15 (20130101); Y02E 60/10 (20130101); Y10S
224/902 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
H01M
2/10 (20060101); H01M 002/10 () |
Field of
Search: |
;429/187 ;16/DIG.15
;220/94R,96 ;224/902 ;294/158,167,168,903 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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0627030 |
|
Nov 1934 |
|
DE |
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1290147 |
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Sep 1972 |
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GB |
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2087134 |
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May 1982 |
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GB |
|
Primary Examiner: Walton; Donald L.
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Hipp; Augustus J. Willhelm; Keith
B.
Claims
We claim:
1. An assembly for a recessible carrying handle for a battery
wherein said assembly comprises:
(a) an elongated recess in said cover top surface;
(b) elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces, which side
recesses communicate with the ends of said cover top recess;
(c) a pair of tongues projecting from the side walls of and into
each said side recess;
(d) a generally U-shaped handle having two limbs connected by a
cross piece;
(e) a pair of grooves in the sides of each said handle limb, which
grooves are adapted to slidably receive said tongues; and
(f) a pair of slots in said grooves, which slots are adapted to
allow passage of said tongues in and out of said grooves.
2. The battery handle assembly of claim 1, wherein said side
recesses comprise (i):
elongated cover recesses in opposing side wall surfaces of said
cover, which cover side recesses communicate with the ends of said
cover top recess, and (ii)
elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces of said
container, which container side recesses communicate with said
cover side recesses; and wherein said
tongues project from the side walls of and into each said container
side recess.
3. The carrying handle assembly of claim 2, wherein said tongues
and said slots are disposed along the mid-regions of, respectively,
said container side recesses and said grooves.
4. The carrying handle assembly of claim 2, wherein said container,
cover, and handle are composed of a thermoplastic polymer.
5. The battery handle assembly of claim 1, has a depending skirt
portion, wherein said side recesses comprise:
elongated recesses in opposing skirt portion surfaces of said
cover, which skirt recesses communicate with the ends of said cover
top recess, and wherein said
tongues project from the side walls of and into each said skirt
recess.
6. The carrying handle assembly of claim 5, wherein said tongues
and said slots are disposed along the mid-regions of, respectively,
said skirt recesses and said grooves.
7. The carrying handle assembly of claim 5, wherein said container,
cover, and handle are composed of a thermoplastic polymer.
8. An electric storage battery comprising:
(a) a container and a cover, which cover defines a top surface and
which container and cover define when sealed together side wall
surfaces;
(b) an elongated recess in said cover top surface;
(c) elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces, which side
recesses communicate with the ends of said cover top recess;
(d) a pair of tongues projecting from the side walls of and into
each said side recess;
(e) a generally U-shaped handle having two limbs connected by a
cross piece;
(f) a pair of grooves in the sides of each said handle limb, which
grooves are adapted to slidably receive said tongues; and
(g) a pair of slots in said grooves, which slots are adapted to
allow passage of said tongues in and out of said grooves.
9. The electric storage battery of claim 8, wherein said side
recesses comprise (i)
elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces of said cover,
which cover side recesses communicate with the ends of said cover
top recess, and (ii)
elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces of said
container, which container side recesses communicate with said
cover side recesses; and wherein said
tongues project from the side walls of and into each said container
side recess.
10. The battery of claim 9, wherein said tongues and said slots are
disposed along the mid-regions of, respectively, said container
side recesses and said grooves.
11. The battery of claim 9, wherein said container, cover, and
handle are composed of a thermoplastic polymer.
12. The electric storage battery of claim 8, wherein said
cover has a depending skirt portion,
wherein said side recesses comprise elongated recesses in opposing
skirt portion surfaces of said cover, which skirt recesses
communicate with the ends of said cover top recess, and wherein
said
tongues project from the side walls of and into each said skirt
recess.
13. The battery of claim 12, wherein said tongues and said slots
are disposed along the mid-regions of, respectively, said skirt
recesses and said grooves.
14. The battery of claim 12, wherein said container, cover, and
handle are composed of a thermoplastic polymer.
Description
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present invention relates to battery carrying handles and more
particularly to a recessible battery carrying handle.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Both the provision and advantages of battery carrying handles are
well known, especially of bail-type handles. Bail handles typically
comprise a U- or C-shaped member attached to opposing sides of the
battery, either on its container or cover, by which the battery may
be carried in much the same fashion as a picnic basket or pail.
Frequently, however, bail handles tend to interfere with one or
more of the many types of devices by which batteries are mounted in
vehicles, and therefore make it difficult to design a battery which
is suitable for use with all types of mounting devices.
Bail handles, therefore, have been designed which can be detached
and removed from the battery after installation. Examples of
detachable bail handles are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No.
4,029,248 to F. Lee; U.S. Pat. No. 3,956,022 to A. Fox; and U.S.
Pat. No. 3,093,515 to R. Rector. While it is claimed that
detachable bail handles offer certain other advantages, they are
not entirely successful in permitting the battery to be adaptable
to all mounting devices. The means for detachably connecting the
ends of the bail handle to the battery typically comprises members
which project from the overall geometry of the battery, even when
the handle is detached, and interfere with some mounting devices.
Moreover, detachable handles present the problem of being lost or
mislaid after installation of the battery so that they are not
available for use carrying the battery at a later date.
It also is known to provide recesses in the battery cover and/or
container and to slidably mount a bail handle such that it fits
into the recesses when not in use. Examples of such recessible
designs are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,448,863 to C.
Terrell and U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,264 to M. McGuire et al. Typically,
however, the design of such recessible handles is complicated
and/or does not allow for easy manufacture or assembly of the
handle. For example, thermoplastic polymers are the materials of
choice for battery containers and handles, but many handle designs
require complicated molds and are expensive and difficult to mold.
Some handles must be attached simultaneously with the sealing of
the battery cover to the container, and accordingly, the assembly
of the battery is unnecessarily complicated. Other handles must be
distorted considerably to attach them. Thus, they are somewhat
difficult to attach and must be made of highly resilient material
not entirely suitable for supporting the weight of the battery
without a real possibility of detaching. Recessed handles also tend
to be difficult to grasp and/or awkward and uncomfortable to
use.
An object of this invention, therefore, is to provide a bail type
battery handle which is simply, easily, and economically
manufactured and strong and reliable in use, yet which is slidably
received in corresponding recesses and which may be attached easily
and without significant distortion after assembly of the otherwise
completed battery.
It also is an object to provide a recessible handle which cannot be
easily disassembled from the battery and lost.
It is a further object of this invention to provide a handle which
is grasped easily and comfortably during use.
These and other objects and advantages of the invention will be
apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the following
detailed description and upon reference to the drawings.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
This invention provides an assembly for a recessible carrying
handle for a battery having a container and cover, wherein the
assembly comprises:
(a) an elongated recess in the top surface of said cover;
(b) elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces of said
cover, which cover side recesses communicate with the ends of said
cover top recess;
(c) elongated recesses in opposing side wall surfaces of said
container, which container side recesses communicate with said
cover side recesses;
(d) a pair of tongues projecting from the side walls of and into
each said container side recess;
(e) a generally U-shaped handle having two limbs connected by a
cross piece;
(f) a pair of grooves in the sides of each said handle limb, which
grooves are adapted to slidably receive said tongues; and
(g) a pair of slots in said grooves, which slots are adapted to
allow passage of said tongues in and out of said grooves;
whereby said handle may be attached readily and without significant
distortion to an otherwise completely assembled battery and, upon
attachment, is slidably received in said recesses.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIGS. 1 and 1A are perspective views of a battery having a handle
assembly of the present invention showing, respectively, the handle
in its extreme raised and extreme lowered positions;
FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the battery shown in FIG. 1 with
the handle removed showing certain details of the tongue and groove
joints; and
FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the handle shown in FIG. 1 showing
further details of the tongue and groove joints.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
As shown in FIGS. 1-3, a battery having the handle assembly of the
subject invention comprises a generally right rectangular shaped
container 10 and a corresponding cover 12. The illustrated battery
is particularly suited for automobiles, but the handle assembly may
be used with other types of batteries, or for that matter in
conjunction with other container and cover combinations where it is
necessary or desirable to incorporate a handle having the
advantages disclosed herein.
The cover 12 is provided with an elongated recess 14 extending
transversely along its centerline and across its top surface. The
cover 12 also has elongated recesses 16 in two of its opposing side
wall surfaces which communicate with the end portions of the cover
top recess 14. The container 10 has elongated recesses 18 in two of
its opposing side wall surfaces which in turn communicate with the
cover side recesses 16.
The handle is generally U-shaped having two limbs 20 connected by a
crosspiece 22. It is slidably received in the recesses 14, 16, and
18, such that it may slide between an extreme lowered position in
which the upper surface of the cross piece 22 is flush with the
upper surface of the cover 12, in which position the handle will
remain when not in use, and a raised position in which it stands
away from the cover 12 to facilitate grasping to carry the
battery.
In accordance with the present invention, the handle is slidably
mounted by tongue and groove joints comprising a pair of tongues 30
projecting from the side walls of and into the container side
recesses 18 and a pair of grooves 32 in the sides of the handle
limbs 20. The size of the tongues 30 and their orientation relative
to the grooves 32 should be such that they not only are slidably
received therein, but that they are capable of supporting the
weight of the battery and of uniformly transferring the stress
therefrom to the battery handle. As and alternative embodiment, the
pair of tongues 30 may project from the side walls of and into the
cover side recess 16 when the cover has a skirt portion of such
dimensions to permit such construction.
As another feature of the subject handle assembly, the grooves 32
in the handle limbs 20 are provided with a pair of slots 34 which
are adapted to allow passage of the tongues 30 in and out of the
grooves 32, and thereby make it possible to attach the handle
easily to an otherwise completely assembled battery without
significant distortion to the handle. Moreover, by positioning the
slots 34 and tongues 30 in the mid-regions, respectively, of the
grooves 32 and container side recesses 18, the handle can be
attached to the battery only in a position between its extreme
lowered position and its extreme raised position. Thus, in this
preferred embodiment, the handle, once attached, is not readily
detached because the handle normally would be in one of those
extreme positions, and in such positions, the tongues 30 are
distant from and unaligned with the slots 34.
Further in accordance with this preferred embodiment of the present
invention, the cover top recess 14 is provided in its mid-regions
with flared portions 15 which allow the handle to be grasped easily
by its cross piece 22. The cross piece 22 also is provided with a
series of smoothed notches 24 in each of its lower edges so that
the handle may be held comfortably during use.
It also will be appreciated that the tongue and groove joints of
the subject handle assembly may be easily made as well. For
example, when the container 10, cover 12, and handle are composed
of a thermoplastic polymer, such as polypropylene, those pieces can
be made by conventional injection molding techniques employing
molds which can be opened by single action, as opposed to double
action. That is, upon completion of the molding process, the mold
may be separated from the molded piece by moving each of the mold's
component parts in a single direction instead of two or more
directions, e.g., by moving a mold part down, instead of down and
out before it can be freed from the molded piece. The components of
the handle assembly of the subject invention, therefore, may be
adapted more easily to automated molding processes, require less
expensive and complicated molds, and because of the relative
simplicity of the mold and molding process, may be manufactured
more reliably and with fewer rejected, unacceptable products.
While this invention has been disclosed and discussed primarily in
terms of specific embodiments thereof, it is not intended to be
limited thereto. Other modifications and embodiments will be
apparent to the worker in the art.
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